rare, yet the country has a multitude of trails. Unfortunately, many of the trails are presently overgrown, no longer maintained by the US Forest Service. You must be prepared for some bushwhacking, and a few spots of trail are so overgrown that it is difficult to follow. This trip is not recommended for beginners.
This trip begins near Atmore Meadows, contours over slopes of scrub oaks, manzanitas, yuccas, chamises, and chamises’ cousin red shanks, and then drops into Bear Canyon. (There are three Bear Canyons in the Angeles.) Here, you visit the ruins of the Gillette Mine, a gold-and-silver prospect dating from the 1880s. En route you pass several trail junctions, each offering opportunities for further discovery (see Description). The best time of year is spring, when there is still water in the canyons, when oaks and sycamores are dressing themselves in red and green, and when the air is sweet with the perfume of wet chaparral. Autumn is crisp and dry, yet the leaves of the black oaks on Sawmill Mountain—some yellow, some almost bright red—produce a vivid splash of color against the drab background.
Description
From I-5, 4 miles south of Gorman, turn right (east) onto CA 138. After 4.5 miles turn right again (southeast) onto the Old Ridge Route. About 2.5 miles farther, turn left (east) onto County Road N2. Follow CR N2 13 miles to Bushnell Summit, where it intersects Forest Road 7N23 leading right (southwest) up Sawmill Mountain. Follow CR 7N23 for 3 miles to the crest of the mountain, and then turn right (west) along the ridgetop. Continue 3.5 miles to the intersection with the Atmore Meadows spur road, CR 7N19. Park here. Be sure to display your Adventure Pass on your parked vehicle.
Walk around the locked gate and follow CR 7N19 down to a horseshoe bend just short of the abandoned Atmore Meadows Campground, 2 miles.
The trail leads south from this horseshoe bend in the road, passes a seepage, and in 0.5 mile reaches a junction. The left fork descends into Fish Canyon (see Hike 3). Go right, across chaparral slopes to a prominent saddle. Here, the mostly overgrown trail contours along the side of the ridge and climbs slightly before descending into Bear Canyon, 4 miles from CR 7N19. It’s easy to miss a switchback here, thanks to overgrown chaparral, so proceed carefully.
In Bear Canyon you meet a dirt road coming over the ridge from Knapp Ranch. Go left and follow the road down-canyon 0.5 mile to the Gillette Mine remains, marked by tailings and rusted metal. Across the creek is a more recent mine owned by the Benco Mining Company, not being developed as of this writing.
Return the same way, almost all uphill. You have the option of continuing 3 miles down Bear Canyon to its merger with Cienaga Canyon. However, the old trail has largely disappeared and you must follow the creek and negotiate some brushy areas. Unfortunately, the once-scenic trail over Redrock Mountain ridge and down to Fish Canyon (see Hike 3) has entirely disappeared in the dense brush.
HIKE 3
CASTAIC CREEK TO CIENAGA CAMPGROUND, FISH CANYON NARROWS, LION TRAIL CAMP
HIKE LENGTH: 17 miles round-trip; 1,600' elevation gain
DIFFICULTY: Moderate (2 days)
SEASON: All year
TOPO MAPS: Whitaker Peak, Liebre Mountain, Burnt Peak
Features
The long, shallow, meandering canyons in the northwest corner of Angeles National Forest are almost all laden with asphalt ribbon. One exception, and perhaps the most scenic canyon of them all, is Fish Canyon, which runs south from Sawmill Mountain, and then southwest into the Castaic Creek drainage.
Fish Canyon offers the best hiking in this part of the Angeles. An all-year stream descends its length, shaded most of the way by clusters of oaks, sycamores, alders, and willows. Most of the canyon is open and gently sloped—except for the 0.5-mile stretch of Fish Canyon Narrows, a slot through the mountain sometimes only a few yards wide. Abrupt, towering sidewalls of colorful rock make these narrows the most spectacular in the range—a Grand Canyon in miniature.
This very pleasant, almost level streamside trip ascends Fish Canyon from Castaic Creek; follows a dirt road to the Pianobox, an old mining prospect; passes through the scenic narrows to Rogers Trail Camp; and continues through the upper canyon to the delightful backcountry campsite of Lion Trail Camp. Be sure to wear stout and waterproof boots for the many stream crossings. This trip is best done as a two-day backpack outing, staying the night at either Rogers or Lion Camp.
Description
There is currently no vehicular access to the old trailhead at Cienaga Campground. Instead, you must now hike in, adding 5 miles round-trip to the total.
From I-5, 8 miles north of Castaic, turn east onto Templin Highway and follow it to where the road ends, blocked by a locked gate, a short distance from Castaic Creek. Park your car along the side of the road. Walk past the gate and continue down the highway, crossing the creek on a concrete bridge. Do not stray off the road or disturb private property. Be sure to display your Adventure Pass on your parked vehicle.
Fish Canyon Narrows
The road turns to dirt and continues eastward past the bridge; in a few hundred yards look for another dirt road branching off to the left. Follow this route as it heads north up the canyon along lower Fish Creek. Soon, the sidewalls close in and the scenery becomes lusher and greener, as the road—sometimes paved and sometimes dirt—crosses and recrosses Fish Creek several times. After walking 2.5 miles from your car, you come to open, parklike Cienaga Campground, located in a grove of oaks on a large flat along the creek.
From just north of Cienaga Campground, walk north, up Fish Creek, on any of the several jeep tracks. In 200 yards they converge into one dirt road, which you follow to the Pianobox, 1 mile from the campground.
From the Pianobox your trail follows the canyon as it turns northeast, and you abruptly enter the cool and shady narrows. Sheer sidewalls of reddish and yellowish rock make this area a favorite of shutter enthusiasts. Crossing and recrossing the stream, you work your way slowly up-canyon. In another mile you reach the oak- and sycamore-shaded bench of Rogers Camp, with stoves and tables. Just across the creek you can see a tunnel bored into solid rock, a relic of mining days. Beyond, the canyon rounds a bend, opens up, and resumes its northeast course. Your trail alternately follows the creek and climbs the slope to bypass narrows. Many sections of streamside trail are washed out, requiring much boulder-hopping and occasional bushwhacking. After 4 more difficult miles, 8.5 miles from your car, you reach Lion Trail Camp, located on an oak-shaded bench at the confluence of Lion and Fish Creeks. A stove, a fire ring, and a bench are here at this most isolated of Angeles Forest trail camps, a great spot to savor true wilderness away from the crowds that infest so much of the forest.
Return the same way. Or, you have another option. You can continue 4.5 miles up the Fish Canyon Trail, brushy in spots but passable, all the way to Atmore Meadows (see Hike 2). A less strenuous option is to hike this trail downhill, from Atmore Meadows to the Pianobox, necessitating a rather long car shuttle.
The Burnt Peak Canyon Trail, shown on the US Forest Service map, is, as of this writing, choked with brush and impassable.
The old trail from the Pianobox over the shoulder of Redrock Mountain to Redrock Canyon is no longer maintained by the US Forest Service
